Defense and Space

Lockheed Martin has announced the opening in Courtland, Alabama, of the second of four planned “digital factories,” with this one dedicated to supporting the Defense Department’s portfolio of hypersonic glide vehicles.

Faced with cost, schedule and technical challenges, NASA is seeking proposals from the commercial sector for a new generation of spacesuits.

William Shatner, the Canadian actor whose portrayal of Capt. James T. Kirk in the 1966-69 television show Star Trek brought depictions of space exploration to millions of households, will get a real taste of space as a guest passenger aboard Blue Origin’s next New Shepard suborbital flight.

Boeing on Sept. 30 received a $172.8 million contract to install a new pressure and oxygen monitoring system in 78 new Block III F/A-18E/Fs as part of the U.S. Navy’s effort to mitigate potential physiological incidents.

The Swedish Air Force will begin to introduce the new-model Gripen E fighter to a frontline squadron beginning in 2025.

The Russian Navy fired a hypersonic cruise missile from a submerged submarine on Oct. 4, a possible first if the test weapon includes a scramjet engine.

Another landmark in the rapid evolution of China’s aerospace industry was on display last week in Zhuhai.

Engineers from NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have completed the second in a series of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine tests for the production of the advanced RS-25 liquid hydrogen and oxygen engines assigned to human missions to the Moon beyond Artemis IV.

The circular 12,200-mi. flight started on Sept. 24 at Edwards AFB, California, and landed back at the base on Oct. 2.

Landsat 9 builds on a half-century legacy of Earth observations from space.

Japanese carmaker plans to fly prototype hybrid-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi in 2023.

The U.S. Air Force wants its heavy airlifters and refueling tankers to be more connected and is reaching out to industry to see what beyond-line-of-sight data services are available to make that happen quickly.

The Pentagon wants to get a better handle on addressing the challenge of climate change, starting with next year’s budget request.

Sweden’s military has requested government approval to purchase Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning (AEW) platform. Swedish defense officials announced that a formal request to begin an acquisition of the Bombardier Global business jet platform was launched on Oct. 1.

Sweden’s Saab is exploring and testing a suite of solutions that could aid air combat operations in regions where global navigation satellite systems are being jammed or spoofed.

The Spanish Air Force has begun its first training flights with its new Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainers.

North Korea test launched a new, locally developed surface-to-air missile on Sept. 30, the country’s fourth test of a new weapon in a month.

The 495th Fighter Squadron joins one Boeing F-15C and two F-15E now in the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.

The aft airframe was shipped on Sept.10 from Linkoping, Sweden to Boeing’s plant in St. Louis, where it arrived a few days later.

SpaceX’s 23rd NASA-contracted Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station splashed down under parachute in the ocean waters off Florida’s Atlantic coast near St. Augustine late Sept. 30, returning a 4,600-lb. cargo that included time-sensitive scientific research.

China is in the process of trialing two types of domestically built turbofans on its Xian Y-20 strategic airlifter.

The U.S. State Department has given the go-ahead to sell a single Boeing EA-18G Growler to Australia to replace an aircraft that was written off after an engine fire in 2018.

Velo3D, a metal 3D-printing startup that is targeting aerospace and defense customers among others, started trading as a public company Sept. 30 when its shares moved on to the New York Stock Exchange.

U.S. Air Force wants to add hypersonics to B-1s; North Korea’s hypersonic missile; Boeing wins German P-8, C-17 sustainment contracts.

U.S. startup Launchspace Technologies has signed a contract with Airbus to test its orbital debris remediation and spacecraft shielding technology for 12 months on the Bartolomeo external platform on the International Space Station.